The complementary DNAs (cDNA) encoding the [Trp7,Leu8]-gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (salmon-type GnRH; sGnRH:GeneBank accession no. u60667) and the [His5,Trp7,Tyr8]-GnRH (chicken-II-type GnRH; cGnRH-II: GeneBank accession no. u60668) precursor in the roach (Rutilus rutilus) were isolated and sequenced following reverse transcription and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). The sGnRH and ...

Iran’s security is affected by a broad region that includes the Caspian Basin, Central Asia, Afghanistan, the Persian Gulf states, Pakistan, Turkey, and the Middle East. However, an increased focus on the countries of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), as well as Iraq, on the one hand, and with members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) (including Yemen) on the other, provides a na...

a series of specific toxicological effects including bioaccumulation of the pollutant, histological changes and influences on liver tissue were examined in the roach fish (rutilus rutilus) after the exposure to graded sublethal concentrations (10 , 30 , 50 μg hg/l) of mercury chloride (mc). histopathological changes, such as oedema, vacuolization, pyknotic nucleus, telangiectasis, and degenerat...

The Caspian Sea is heavily polluted due to industrial and agricultural effluents as well as extraction of oil and gas reserves. Microbial communities can influence the fate of contaminants and nutrients. However, insight into the microbial ecology of the Caspian Sea significantly lags behind other marine systems. Here we describe microbial biomass, diversity and composition in sediments collect...

S U M M A R Y The Rudbar-Tarom earthquake of 1990 June 20 (M0 = 1.4 × 1027 dyn cm), the largest one in Iran over the past 35 yr, was accompanied by a small tsunami in the Caspian Sea, which produced run-ups of up to 2 m, and inundations of 1 km, reaffirming the existence of tsunami hazard along the Caspian shoreline, as suggested by historical reports. We present the results of a field survey, ...

In the spring and summer of each year, large patches of submersed aquatic macrophytes overgrow the bottom of the alluvial Warta River downstream of a large dam reservoir owing to water management practices. Environmental variables, macroinvertebrates (zoobenthos and epiphytic fauna, zooplankton) and fish abundance and biomass were assessed at this biologically productive habitat to learn intras...

Serum biochemical parameters are important aspects in the management of endangered species such as Caspiomyzon wagneri. The objective of this survey was to determine some serum ionic and metabolic parameters and those relationships in 22 migratory population of Caspian lamprey in shirood river (a river located at the south of Caspian sea). There was no significant (P<0.05) difference between le...

The objectives of study were to determine whether contaminant-associated immunosuppression occurs in prefledgling herring gulls and Caspian terns from the Great Lakes and to evaluate immunological biomarkers for monitoring health effects in wild birds. During 1992 to 1994, immunological responses and related variables were measured in prefledgling chicks at colonies distributed across a broad g...

A spectacular adaptive radiation of crustaceans has occurred in the Black, Caspian, and Aral seas. This study tests several evolutionary scenarios based on the extent of genetic differentiation and the phylogenetic relationships among endemic mysids and gammarid amphipods from the Black and Caspian seas. Molecular phylogenies for these taxa were based on two mitochondrial genes: cytochrome c ox...